It just doesn’t make any sense…
The world’s most nutrient dense foods are all rich in cholesterol.
Breastmilk is high in cholesterol.
Our liver produces cholesterol.
Our brain is mostly made up of cholesterol.
Not only this, but studies also prove that cholesterol is not a problem:
European countries that consume the most cholesterol have the lowest rates of heart disease (like France).
Low cholesterol levels are linked to an increased risk of cancer, dementia, depression, and all-cause mortality.
Hong Kong literally has the highest meat consumption per capita and the world’s longest life expectancy.
Cholesterol is an essential nutrient. Your body cannot live without it, which is why your liver produces it. Cholesterol plays a wide variety of biological and physiological roles in the human body. Eating cholesterol will not make you sick, but avoiding it just might.
1. Your Liver Produces 80% of It
If cholesterol were truly a deadly toxin, why would your body manufacture the majority of it? Your liver produces roughly 80% of the cholesterol circulating in your blood at any given time, with only about 20% coming from your diet. This is because cholesterol is so vital that your body cannot risk leaving its production to dietary chance. It is used to build cell membranes, create hormones, and assist in bile acid production for digestion. The idea that the same molecule your body makes in large amounts is inherently harmful doesn’t hold up under basic biology.
2. Breastmilk: Nature’s Cholesterol Superfood
Breastmilk is one of the most cholesterol-rich foods on the planet, and it is the first and primary source of nutrition for human infants. This cholesterol is essential for brain development, hormone production, and the formation of myelin, the protective sheath that coats nerve fibers. If cholesterol were dangerous, it would not be a central component of the perfect, species-specific food designed to nourish newborns during their most rapid phase of growth.
3. The Brain is 60% Fat, Much of It Cholesterol
Your brain is structurally dependent on cholesterol, which forms a major part of its fat composition. Cholesterol is essential for building synapses, protecting nerve cells, and ensuring efficient communication between neurons. Without adequate cholesterol, brain signaling slows, memory falters, and overall cognitive function suffers. This is why excessively lowering cholesterol levels has been linked to cognitive decline and dementia risk.
4. Seventy-Five Percent of Heart Disease Patients Have Normal Cholesterol
For decades, cholesterol has been blamed for heart disease, yet the majority of people who suffer from heart attacks or coronary artery disease have cholesterol levels in the “normal” range. This suggests that other factors, like inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysfunction, play a far bigger role in heart disease than cholesterol alone. The cholesterol-heart disease narrative is overly simplistic and fails to explain real-world outcomes.
5. Low Cholesterol Increases Risk of Disease and Death
Cholesterol is not just safe, it is protective. Studies have found that low cholesterol levels are linked with higher rates of certain cancers, depression, and dementia. Cholesterol is a key building block for serotonin receptors and other mood-regulating pathways in the brain. When levels drop too low, mental health and neurological resilience suffer. Low cholesterol has also been linked with increased all-cause mortality, meaning a higher risk of death from any cause.
6. European Countries Eat the Most Cholesterol and Have the Lowest Heart Disease Rates
Take France as an example. The French diet is rich in butter, cheese, eggs, and pâté—foods long demonized for their cholesterol content. Yet France consistently ranks among the lowest in heart disease mortality in Europe. This “French paradox” isn’t really a paradox at all when you consider that nutrient-dense, cholesterol-rich animal foods also provide protective nutrients like vitamin K2, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants.
7. Cholesterol is the Precursor to Essential Hormones
Without cholesterol, your body cannot make testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, or cortisol. These hormones control everything from reproductive health to stress response, muscle maintenance, and mood regulation. Inadequate cholesterol intake or over-suppression of cholesterol levels can disrupt hormone balance, leading to fatigue, infertility, low libido, and poor stress tolerance.
8. Hong Kong: Highest Meat Consumption, Longest Life Expectancy
Hong Kong residents eat more meat per capita than any other population in the world, yet they also have the longest average lifespan. This contradicts the common narrative that high animal food consumption shortens life. Meat provides not just protein but also cholesterol and fat-soluble vitamins that support long-term health.
9. The World’s Most Nutrient-Dense Foods are Cholesterol-Rich
Liver, egg yolks, shellfish, and fatty fish are all loaded with cholesterol—and they are also among the most nutrient-dense foods known to science. These foods supply vitamins A, D, E, and K2, as well as minerals like zinc, iron, and selenium, all of which play critical roles in immunity, cellular repair, and longevity. Avoiding these foods in the name of lowering cholesterol means missing out on a powerhouse of nutrition.
Closing Thoughts
Cholesterol is not the villain it has been made out to be. It is an essential nutrient your body cannot function without, one that supports every cell membrane, fuels your brain, and enables your hormones to work properly. Rather than fearing cholesterol, it is time to respect it as the biological ally it truly is. When you pair cholesterol-rich, nutrient-dense foods with a diet free from ultra-processed junk and seed oils, you give your body the tools it needs to thrive.
References
- Wellbery, Caroline. “Low Cholesterol Levels Associated with Increased Mortality.” American Family Physician, vol. 72, no. 9, 2005, p. 1859. American Academy of Family Physicians, https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2005/1101/p1859.html.
- Zhou, F., et al. “High Level of LDL-C Is Inversely Associated with Dementia in the Community-Dwelling Elderly: The Shanghai Aging Study.” Frontiers in Neurology, vol. 9, 2018, article 952, https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2018.00952.
- Wu, Wen, et al. “Inverse Association Between Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and 10-Year All-Cause Mortality Risk in the General Population.” PLoS One, vol. 17, no. 3, 2022, e0265616. National Library of Medicine, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8959128/.
- O’Brien, John S., and E. L. Sampson. “Lipid Composition of the Normal Human Brain: Gray Matter, White Matter, and Myelin.” Journal of Lipid Research, vol. 6, no. 4, 1965, pp. 537–544, https://www.jlr.org/article/S0022-2275(20)39934-6/fulltext.
- Simons, Kai, and Elina Ikonen. “How Cells Handle Cholesterol.” Science, vol. 290, no. 5497, 2000, pp. 1721–1726, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5497.1721.